Nerd Alert!

I am quite possibly the biggest dork of all time, but the "creative" bug bit me yesterday. I really wanted to have some kind of Christmas tree for Casey and I on Sunday, so I ended up making 16 of the little throwing stars (which I learned in elementary school) and then looked up instructions for making the *massive* star... I then took a toilet paper roll and taped everything to it so it would stand up. So this is our Christmas tree. The little gifts are actually 2 of Casey's gifts- I individually wrapped a few things so he would have more to open. Finally, the little Japanese wrestlers (which Casey acquired by drinking some type of coffee, I think) look on in amazement at my handiwork. Hahahaha... yep, I'm a nerd. I kind of like the way the tree came out, though... it took a long time to try and figure out how to connect the stars and not have the branches going up instead of down.
In other news, today I had the most difficult Japanese lesson yet. I spent a long time trying to figure out what Yanagi-san was saying while she was trying to teach me sentences to ask when I go out shopping. It was so difficult, in fact, that we gave up and decided that I should go back to the easier lesson of counting and learning names for relatives (mother, uncle, etc.). I was relieved, but also a little frustrated at not being able to understand everything. I haven't specifically learned how the sentence structure is yet in Japanese, but I know it's quite a bit different than English, so I think once I know that I will be able to pick it up easier.
After my lesson, Tasaka-san was cooking Curry Rice (Japanese-style) and she invited Casey and I to stay and eat lunch in the International Student Office (ISO). We got to talking with her about things I would like to learn to make (sushi, tempura, etc.) and she seemed excited to help me learn, so she said next month we will cook together in the ISO. I look forward to learning all of this and then going home and hopefully replicating it in South Carolina! I am cooking again tonight (Salmon this time... and we are sure that it's salmon and not salted ham, FYI...) so I am a little apprehensive after the first 'salmon' incident. Casey found another burner yesterday at the recycle shop for $20 (gosh I wish we lived closer to that store!) so I should be able to cook more than one thing at a time. It was becoming problematic with only one burner and multiple things to cook. We'll see how it all goes!
Today was pretty nice, temperature-wise. The past two days have been around 50, which is quite a jump from the norm. There is also very little wind, which has helped tremendously. Tonight it's supposed to rain and then be cold and rainy tomorrow. I hope to stay inside if I can. I am still sitting next to the space heater, like normal, but I do not have quite the amount of sweatshirts/socks/undershirts on that I normally do. :)
I'm looking forward to our Christmas weekend- we are planning to go to Kyoto on Saturday to eat at Shakey's, an all-you-can-eat pizza joint that was a favorite of Jeff and Gopal. Hopefully they'll be open- we have been on a Shakey's hunt long before the REU students left. I have still never eaten there, but have heard a lot about it! Sunday night we are going to go to a restaurant that Casey went to last week and really enjoyed. We both decided that it would be better not to cook at home for Christmas. Yay- less stress for me!! :) We also plan to talk to family on Sunday and look forward to hearing from everyone.
Guess that's about it for now.

-Ashley